Burying the hatchets It only took 15 years, but Joe Pernice is finally on the road to making amends with the friendships he left behind when he quit — and effectively dismantled — the Scud Mountain Boys in 1997 to focus on the Pernice Brothers with a rotating cast of musicians, including his brother, Bob.

DIY or die During a year when political conversations are increasingly focused on the widening gap between the rich and poor, the corporate elite versus the rest of the world, it makes sense that arts criticism follow.

The music climate is as frigid as the business The Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times" alludes to eras of upheaval and tumult. But what if that tumult happens too slowly to seem interesting?